Page 81 of A Reluctant Boy Toy
Instead, he said, “You’ve got the wrong guy.”
But he wasn’t wrong. He was perfect. I must have been the one who messed up.
After all, I was the one who ruined everything I touched.
Feeling numb, I ate the yogurt and some of the fruit. I paused by Molly’s door on the way to my room, but I was so shattered I couldn’t make myself knock.
Grimly, painfully, I positioned myself as best I could on the bed and waited for the pain pill to take effect. Sleep closed in on me while I was still grieving over my conversation with Stone.
* * *
“Good morning, sunshine.”Molly greeted me with a breakfast tray and the news that Stone planned to spend most of the day with the hybrids in his care. “How are you feeling?”
“Okay,” I muttered. If I could have, I’d have rolled over and pulled the covers over my head.
“Just okay?” She went to the windows and drew back the drapes.
“I’m glad for a little down time.”
“Is that your way of saying you could use some time on your own?”
“Maybe.”
She stared as if she could peer inside me. “I have work to do anyway. Lots of calls to make. Shout if you need me.”
“I will. Thanks.” With my rainbow slanket wrapped around me, I sat outside to snack and read a book from Stone’s collection of spy thrillers.
It turned out Stone’s private deck overlooked a cobbled together agility course where Stone put the hybrids through their paces. In the fragile morning light, Stone ran the course beside them, two at a time, using voice commands and hand signals to send them over bridges and through tunnels and up nets of thick rope.
Some of the animals were definitely wolfy. Some I would have sworn were domestic dogs. All probably had social and emotional issues that made them unsuitable household pets, but at the sanctuary, Stone gave them a safe place to challenge their bodies and explore their environment.
While I read, clouds drifted across an impossibly blue sky. A breeze caused the aspens to quiver. Their clacking leaves made a unique, reassuring rustle—like the flutter of ten thousand paper cranes magically coming to life.
The tall grass teemed with mysteries while, here and there, bright patches of columbine, Indian paintbrush, and subalpine larkspur brought color and fragrance to the air.
I could see why Stone loved this place.
I understood why he and Ariel and Taggart fought for its survival.
I could not take my eyes off the man in the center of it all.
“Want some company?” Molly asked through the slider at lunchtime.
“Sure.” I couldn’t stretch the way I wanted to. I had to content myself with arching my feet and pointing my toes.
She saw where I was looking. “Hey, you can watch Stone work with the hybrids from here.”
“Can you?” I didn’t have a hope of escaping her fond, knowing smile.
“The view is lovely today.” Molly had a glass of wine and some juice for me. “What are you reading?”
“A Jack Reacher novel.” I shrugged. “There are more where this came from if you’re looking for a book.”
“Why am I not surprised Stone has a bookcase full of lone-wolf heroes.”
“What is it they say? When someone shows you who they are, believe them.”
“You seem kind of subdued today. Anything happen that I should know about?”
